Abstract In the conventional process of parametric ship optimization, the selection of design variables mostly relies on design experience. The lack of a clear and quantitative method of parameter selection leads to a certain degree of blindness and inefficiency. In this
article, a parametric hull modeling method is proposed. The sensitivity analysis based on orthogonal experimental design is performed to select the design variables of optimization. Through variance and range analysis, the parameters that have a significant influence on the optimization objective
are selected as the design variables. A combination of Sobol and tangent search method is applied during the optimization. The shape optimization of a fishing boat with minimum resistance is taken as an example. The optimization result proves the efficiency of the proposed parametric modeling
method and the sensitivity analysis, which are significant for the shape optimization of a fishing boat.
